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March 15, 2012 I The Lovell Chronicle I 9
Six Bulldogs named to all-star squads
BY DAVID PECK
After going 22-5 and
placing second at the state
tournament, the Lovell Bull-
dogs had two players named
to the Class 2A All-State bas-
ketball team, four named
all-conference and two who
received honorable mention
notice.
Senior guard Colin May
was named all-state for the
second straight year and was
also named the Player of the
Year in the 2A Northwest
Conference.
Also named all-state was
junior Cody Savage. May and
Savage were joined on the 2A
West All-Conference team by
juniors Dylan Hultgren and
Ryan Clark. Receiving hon-
orable mention kudos were
seniors McKayan May and
Morgan Baxendale.
Both Savage and Co-
lin May were named to the
Casper Star-Tribune All
State Tournament team, as
well.
Colin May led the Bull-
dogs in scoring this season,
averaging 19.7 points per
game, steals with 95 (3.5/
game) and free-throwshoot-
ing at 75 percent. He was sec-
ond in assists with 92 (3.4/
game) and was the top three-
point shooter, hitting 59 of
161 attempts for 37 percent.
He also shot 51.4 percent
from two-point range.
"I really felt Colin was
the motor of our team," coach
and father Brian May said.
Lovell Bulldogs named to
(honorable mention), Cody
and McKayan May (HM).
"He's the one when he got
started well, we usually did
a good job in the game. He
showed good composure and
was a hard competitor. He's a
really good defender individ-
ually, handles the ball well
and is a good shooter, both
from the perimeter and the
foul line.
"Colin's dedication was
the difference between him
DAVID PECK
the 2A West All-Conference basketball team were (l-r) Morgan Baxendale
Savage (also all-state), Ryan Clark, Dylan Hultgren, Colin May (also all-state)
and some other kids. Some
kids come in and play dur-
ing open gym, but Colin will
(come in early to) focus on
individual skill things like
ball-handling and shooting.
Sometimes he'll do 2½ hours
a day, then go to open gym."
May took advantage of
opportunities to attend bas-
ketball camps, Coach May
said, then worked on things
camp coaches identified.
"He and Cody have prob-
ably been the hardest work-
ers as far as building their
skills," Coach May said. "My
plea to kids if they want to
get better is that they need
to look at Colin and Cody as
examples of sacrificing time
to get better at a game they
love, which helped our team
a great deal.
"They had that desire to
improve. What people don't
see is the work ethic, desire
and passion to not only make
themselves better but also
their teammates."
Savage led the Bulldogs
in rebounding at 9 per game,
blocked shots with 34 and
shooting percentage, hitting
187 of 317 two-pointers (59
percent) and 6 of 14 three-
pointers (43 percent) for an
overall shooting percent-
age of 58.3. He was second
in scoring at 17.6 points per
game, third in assists with 61
and third in steals with 55.
"He's also a kid who will
spend a lot of time improv-
ing his game," Coach May
said. "He lifts weights to gain
strength and had an ability
to use his body in the post.
Due to his work ethic and de-
sire to get better his ball-han-
dling and shooting range are
also getting better.
"Cody is another exam-
ple of a kid who would come
in early and work on the
things he wanted to improve
on without you begging him.
That one-two punch of Colin
and Cody really helped us a
lot this year. We improved
our scoring as a team by 12
points from a year ago."
May called Hultgren a
"smart basketball player and
a smart kid who makes really
good decisions" and also does
a great job rebounding for a
guard.
Hultgren led the Bull-
dogs in assists with 95 (3.5
per game), was second in
steals with 76 (2.8/game),
third in scoring at 7.2 ppg
and fifth in rebounding with
108 (4/game).
"I felt as the year went
on that Dylan got more com-
fortable with his offense as
far as handling the ball and
See 'BULLDOGS,' Page 11
PATTI CARPENTER
Rocky Mountain Grizzlies named to the Class 2A
West All-Conference boys basketball team were
Bryce Ward (left) and Michael Bernhisel.
Grizzlies Ward and Bernhisel
make all-conference team
BY DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain juniors
Bryce Ward and Michael
Bernhisel were both named
to the Class 2A West All-
Conference team announced
recently.
Both were starters and
leaders on the young Grizzly
team that finished 9-15 and
missed going to State by one
game at Regionals.
Ward was the lead-
ing scorer on the Grizzlies
this season, averaging 12.7
points per game. He was
also second in rebounding,
pulling down 4.6 caroms per
contest.
"Bryce Ward was our
leading stats player return-
ing from a year ago. He was
good as a sophomore, so ob-
viously having that expe-
rience was valuable to the
team," coach Michael Sim-
mons said. "He works hard.
He was always a threat from
the perimeter, and as the
season progressed he be-
came more of a threat with
his dribble penetration. That
kind of made him a double-
edged weapon."
Ward and Bernisel were
both selected by their team-
mates as team captains for
the 2011-12 season.
Simmons said Ward
was also a key member of
the team defensively, noting
that, with the team's lack of
size, Ward had to sometimes
guard a post player inside.
He said the Grizzlies did a
good job defensively, especial-
ly considering that the team
had to play an up-tempo style
of basketball to take advan-
tage of the team's strengths,
which gave opponents more
opportunities to score.
"I told the young men
that they were probably go-
ing to give up some defensive
stats, but we still managed
to do pretty good," Simmons
said. "We were third in the
region in team defense. Our
stops per possession were as
good as they've ever been."
Bernhisel ran the show
for the Grizzlies at point
guard and grew into the role
as a starter this season, Sim-
mons said.
"He was one of the young
men you always knew was
going to become a good play-
er," the coach said. "He was
at all the camps, and once
he got the chance, we knew
he would do well. In his first
year as a starter he was one
of the go-to guys.
"There's a lot of pressure
on the point guard, and he
did a good job with that. He
improved as the season pro-
gressed."
Simmons said Bernhisel
did the "quiet things" that
don't always get noticed or
make the box score, like as-
sists and steals and getting
the team calmed down and
into the offense.
"We know he's going to
keep everything going the
way it needs to," Simmons
added. "I hope as he gains
confidence in himself that he
will be even more of a threat
next year. He's capable of be-
ing a double-digit guy scor-
ing with half a dozen as-
sists."
Bernhisel finished third
on the team in scoring at 8.3
points per game. He led the
team in assists with 82 and
steals with 57, and he was
third in rebounding, pulling
down 4.2 boards per game.
Four Lady Bulldogs receive post-season honors
BY DAVID PECK
A 25-1 record and a sec-
ond straight Class 2A state
title led to three members
of the 2011-12 Lovell Lady
Bulldogs girls basketball
team to be named to the 2A
All-State basketball team
and one other to be named
all-conference.
Seniors Alyssa Geiser
and Leanne Winterholler
and junior Amanda Shum-
way were named to the all-
state squad, while senior
Erin Robertson joined her
teammates on the 2A West
All-Conference squad in a
vote of coaches.
Geiser was named all-
state for the second straight
year. The point guard aver-
aged 8.4 points, 3.3 assists
and 2.7 steals per game
this season, and she led the
team in three-point shoot-
ing, hitting 36 of 96 shots for
38 percent from beyond the
arc. She also shot 53 per-
cent from two-point range.
Geiser led the team in as-
sists with 80 and was sec-
ond in steals and fourth in
scoring average.
"Alyssa was the igniter
of everything we did," coach
Chris Edwards said. "She
fueled us defensively and of-
fensively she was a steady
ball-handler and a very effi-
cient shooter. She was very
selective with her shots and
at times we had to encour-
age her to shoot more.
"Alyssa has a tremen-
dous understanding of the
game and knew what it
took to make her team bet-
ter. She's one of the hardest
workers in practice. She's
not necessarily a vocal lead-
er, but she led by example in
practice."
Edwards noted that
Geiser was battle-tested
from years of starting and
handling pressure.
'Tou couldn't faze her,"
he said. "She could handle
all of the pressure and come
up with the big play when
needed."
Winterholler was sec-
ond on the team in scoring
average at 8.8 points per
game, second on the team in
assists at 2.8 per game and
third in steals with 52. She
shot 52 percent from two-
point range and 32 percent
from beyond the arc.
"This year having her
leadership and her experi-
ence was huge for us," Ed-
wards said. "She is gifted
DAVID PECK
Lovell Lady Bulldogs named to the 2A West All-Conference girls basketball
team were (l-r) Amanda Shumway, Alyssa Geiser, Erin Robertson and Leanne
Winterholler. Shumway, Geiser and Winterholler were also named all-state.
as far as her athletic abil-
ity, yet she worked her tail
off to develop the funda-
mentals of the game. Over
the summer she really de-
veloped more endurance by
running three or four miles
per day.
"She spent hours shoot-
ing the basketball over the
summer and developing bet-
ter ball-handling skills."
Edwards noted that
Winterholler was a multi-
dimensional player who
could play the one or two
positions and yet had the
size to match up with a four
(power forward).
"She was a leader who
expected those around her
to work as hard as she did,"
Edwards said. "She was a
tough match-up because she
could score off the dribble or
hit a perimeter shot.
"Defensively, she really
stepped her game up. She
could cover some ground
and used her wingspan to
create some problems for
other teams."
Shumway led the Lady
Bulldogs in scoring, aver-
aging 10.4 points per game.
She shot 48 percent from
two-point range and 36 per-
cent from long range. She
was second on the team in
rebounding at 5.6 boards
per game and led the team
in offensive rebounding at
2.9 per game. Shumway had
43 assists and 46 steals.
She came on strong at
the end of the season, aver-
aging 14.7 points per game
in the playoffs.
"Amanda brought a
physical toughness to the
team. She was going to out-
work people," Edwards said.
"She was one who under-
stood good cuts and good
slashes to the basket. She
was an attacker, and she
wanted to challenge you.
She had a good nose for the
rim. Yet she also developed
an effective three-point shot.
A defender couldn't back off,
or she would knock down
that shot, but if you tucked
up tight she would rip right
by you and get the layup.
"She could guard any-
one from a two guard to
a four player. There were
times when she would re-
bound it, outlet it and still
be the first girl down the
floor. She put in time last
year to improve and will this
year again. What impressed
me about Amanda was her
desire to play defense with a
lot of passion. She was good
at wing denying and at de-
nying cutters."
Robertson led the team
in rebounding with 6.2
boards per game, and she
was third in scoring at 8.7
points per contest. She led
the team in blocked shots
with 20 and in steals with
66. Robertson shot 56 per-
cent from the field this sea-
son.
"Erin brought that
physical presence inside
to challenge opposing post
players," Edwards said.
"She could create prob-
lems whether we were play-
ing man or zone. She had
a nose for the ball and cre-
ated a lot of turnovers. She
had cat-quick reflexes, and
she would read the passing
lanes and step in and get
steals.
"Athletically, she could
get up and down the floor
with the guards and yet was
physically strong enough to
control the rebounding as-
Pect of the game."
Robertson was another
unselfish player, Edwards
said.
'Tee really had to grind
it into her to be more asser-
tive offensively," he said.
"She was willing to pass in-
stead of attacking the bas-
ket, but when she did attack
she had a good up-and-un-
der move and a nice, soft
touch around the basket."
